Basic question: maturation times

15 years ago

I'm looking at a seed catalog. Under "Fino Fennel" it says "70-80 days"; Under "White Icicle Radish" it says "25-30 days"; Under "German Pink Tomatoes" it says "85 days".

My question is "What the heck do these mean?"

For radishes, it could be time-from-planting-to-harvest, or "time-from-first-leaves-appearing-to-harvest". For tomatoes, it could be "time from seed to harvest" or "time from xplant outdoors to harvest" or "time from first flower to (first) harvest", etc. Clearly "flower-to-harvest" isn't the right meaning for radishes, but I seem to recall that it might be for tomatoes.

Anyhow, I'd like to know, since this year, in my square-foot garden beds, I'd like to plan not just what-goes-where, but the second and third and fourth plantings. That's hard to do when you don't know when the first ones will be done, even approximately! (I figure that if I've got a 30-day radish, I can figure that by day 35 I will probably have harvested them all and be ready to plant something else, for instance...like more radishes).

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide, on items all the way from radishes to peas to beans to chard to dill to tomatoes.

I'd love to know, for example, how long a dill plant lasts. I know that I plant mine, they thrive, and then at some point they go to seed. I use the greens, then I may even harvest the seeds. But if I knew that they were going to start going to seed in two weeks, I might want to start planting others right about then.

The books say things like "plant dill starting May 1, and every two weeks thereafter," which SOUNDS OK, but if a typical plant is in OK shape for 4 weeks before going to seed, then I've got 3 active dill plants at any time, which is about 6 times as much dill as I need!

(BTW, I understand that all times are approximate, etc., but if I know something about the AVERAGES, I can at least make plans which I can then modify...)

--John

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Comments (5)

bsntech
15 years ago
Hi John.

You are correct about the maturation dates. They are a bit hard to decipher in the fact that they do mean both - from seed to harvest - and from transplant to harvest.

Those that you transplant would be your plants that should be started indoors - such as onion seed, celery seed, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower (all cabbage really), etc. Radishes, carrots, peas, green beans all are directly sowed into the garden.

The packet may say "start seed indoors..." or "direct-sow". Look for those words to give you clues as to whether the days to maturity is from transplant date or from sowing date.

Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog
farmerdill
15 years ago
concur: most mainstream North American seed vendors will use maturity dates based on traditional growing methods. Those that are traditionally transplanted like tomatoes . peppers, eggplants, cabbages etc will be from transplant date. Those that are normally direct seeded will be from emergence. That said you will find a few that sell primarily to processors that will give direct seed maturity dates. If you see a tomato listed at 135 days, you will know that you have encountered one of those.

Maturity dates are at best guesstimates. They vary widely under growing conditions. You will find a few vendors that list maturity dates for spring planting and a second maturity for fall planting. Maturity dates are great for comparing varities of a specific plant, but not very useful for planning harvest dates.

Don't figure that if you have a 30 day radish, you will have a complete harvest in 35 days. Most assume ideal condition. Also not even the most modern hybrids all grow at the same rate. Some of them may be ready at 30 days, some at 35, other straggle along later.
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grandad_2003
15 years ago
jfhspike, you may also want to keep a log of what you seeded or transplanted, when you did this, and when you harvested. This will give you information for next year when/if you decide to repeat the process.
wordwiz
15 years ago
grandad,

To go a step further, record the number of Growing Degree Days when the plant was seeded or transplanted and the number when ripe fruit occurs.

Mike
Donna
15 years ago
You also need to consider how long the plants will produce ripe fruit before they are finished. For example, cucumbers will produce good fruit about 2 to 4 weeks in my area before the plants begin to fall prey to mildew, insects, etc. and the quality of the fruit declines. So, I start one hill of cucumbers early on, then another about 4 weeks later.

Some plants, of course, produce all season: indeterminate tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, butterbeans. While others produce for only a few weeks and then they shut down because of weather (beans) or insects (squash), or, it seems to me, just because they are pooped out (cowpeas). To some degree, you can only learn the specifics of how things do with experience. I started a garden journal last year and it is going to be of great help this year. I marked when I planted a crop, when it produced its first fruit and when it was pulled out and replaced.